Page 7 of Soul

“Channelling your inner Lindy?” Wyvern asked with a grin.

“I could have worse examples than Lindy…” Iona seemed to think about that comment. “Yup, I said that right.”

“Glad you did because Lindy would probably kick your ass,” Wyvern said as Lindy waved from Spice’s lap.

“I know,” Iona replied mournfully, and then smacked Siren’s head again. “Know your place. Whore!”

“Fine!” Siren cried as she tried to pull free. Iona had a grip on her hair and didn’t look inclined to release Siren.

“It’s okay, Iona,” I said, and Iona looked appeased. She gave Siren a third rap and released her.

I was silently amused. Iona was growing in confidence, and she was working her ass off for forgiveness. She had been a total bitch before she and Warden got together. Iona had been foolish enough to believe the lies of a bitter woman, and, boy, everyone had paid for that. When the truth emerged, Iona had been horrified and deeply hurt.

Emotionally, Iona had suffered because of the pain she’d caused. She wasn’t a bad person, just naïve, and Iona had learned a harsh lesson. It was one that undermined her a lot, but she was starting to gather her confidence back.

Christmas had certainly gone a long way to helping her make amends. The club felt easier; the tension Iona and Rosalea’s return had caused faded more each day.

With Warden relaxing, it filtered down to the inner circle and then to the rest of us. The Old Timers created mischief, which seemed to be more tolerated. Nobody was at each other’s throats.

We were all more aware of those with abilities weaknesses. Romeo was spending more time in his room—as was Bogeyman. Undertaker couldn’t deal with crowds over thirty as it overloaded him. Romeo was stretched, protecting Undertaker from the empathic backlash. Aura was also in the same boat as Undertaker and had recently started refusing to take clients on at the real estate office. Instead, Aura stayed in his small office out back and let his staff manage clients. Aura knew their auras intimately.

There was a lot of pressure. The club had numerous peripheral issues to handle as well. Dynamo was physically beating the shit out of any male stupid enough to get in the ring with her. Her time being trafficked affected her still. Vogue worried that Katie wasn’t going to recover. Shit, Romeo still blocked Katie’s memories after her collapse at Christmas.

And the Screaming Barons kept driving past, attempting to push buttons. All in all, we had a shitshow happening. And then there was the Bloody Scorpions; they were quiet for now, but they’d soon raise their head.

I got up off my stool and nodded to Iona, who was talking to Wyvern, and headed upstairs to my room. I needed peace and quiet. Before I clawed my skin off at the bullshit that the whores were sprouting. How many of my brothers had they told ‘they were the best they’d ever had?’

Fuck me. Lying bitches.

Chapter Two.

Soul

Iwas being watched. My skin crawled as I felt eyes on me. For the last few days after returning home, I had experienced this sensation, and it was driving me nuts. Perhaps it was time to update Warden, because I certainly couldn’t see anyone.

I’d ask Romeo or Bogeyman to come and visit, but it would be a sure bet the day they came, nobody would watch. As I sat on the porch in the swing, I nodded at the old couple across the road as they gardened. They’d been off at first, but we’d become casual acquaintances. I liked that they didn’t lie, well, not often. They told little white lies to tease each other. Such as her cooking was bad when it wasn’t, or he was useless around the house.

The fact they said I love you and meant it warmed my cold heart. That couple must have been together over fifty years, yet they still loved hard.

Discontented, I drew in a breath and puffed my cheeks out. The sensation continued, and I felt eyes stabbing straight at me. Spine crawling, I leapt up and peered around but saw nobody.

The old couple frowned as I stomped inside. Shit, was I getting paranoid?

Two days later

There it was again. Fuck, I needed to call Romeo because I’d no idea if this person meant me harm or not. My ability didn’t stretch to that, unfortunately. While being able to tell if someone was lying was useful, it would have helped if I had Romeo’s ability.

Alert, I scratched my chest and heard a rustle in the bushes. An empty house stood to my right, but the home on my left was occupied. That was a rental. A woman and two kids had moved in three months ago. Luckily for me, she kept herself to herself, and the children were pretty damn quiet. I couldn’t complain. Now, someone watched me through her shrubs, and the feeling was familiar.

As I stood up, there was a scuffle, and footsteps raced away.

A frown crossed my face as I wondered what the hell was going on. Was my neighbour spying on me? Slowly and trying not to make a sound, I walked down the side of the house, the fence concealing me, and listened.

Children’s voices rose in argument from the end of her yard, so I moved closer, wondering the fuck was happening.

“Ham, I’m telling you he is like us,” a girl insisted.

“He’s not!” a boy retorted.

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